“The quality of your commitments will determine the course of your life.” – Ralph Marston
Recently, I spoke to a room full of high school students on the topic of “Don’t Waste Your Life.” Among the advice that I gave them, I offered this nugget of truth: “Don’t just drift through life. Live intentionally and on purpose.” I believe that is one of the most important lessons that a person can learn – and the sooner we get it, the better.
Living a simple life certainly requires intentionality. In a world that is hectic, busy, and hurried, simplicity is not. In a culture that encourages selfishness and excess, minimalism does not. And in a society that is rushing to gain more, satisfaction with less is counter-cultural.
To live an intentional life, we must begin by laying a proper foundation and then add practical steps on top of it.
First, Lay the Foundation.
- Realize that your life is made up of choices. Every morning is a new day full of decisions and opportunity. You get to pick your attitude and your decisions. You don’t have to let the circumstances of your past negatively determine the pattern of your life in the future. You have a choice in the matter. You do not need to be stuck in the same pattern of living that you have been for years… realize that every morning is a new opportunity.
- Evaluate the culture that you’re swimming in. Life is not lived in a vacuum. It is lived surrounded by a culture that is moving somewhere. This culture around us forms a swift downstream current. Living an intentional life will require you to take a step back and evaluate the flow of the stream to determine where it is headed, how it is affecting you, and if it is taking you in a direction you desire.
- Examine yourself. Know who you are. Get a strong handle on your passions, talents, abilities, and weaknesses. Give precious time and energy to this endeavor. It is one of the most valuable things you can do.
Second, Add Practical Steps.
- Decide to live your life. Stop comparing yourself to others. You were not born to live their life. There is no sense wasting yours being jealous of theirs. Instead, you were born to live your life - determine today to be good at it. After all, you only get one shot.
- Define a purpose. Identify what you want your life to communicate and contribute. Find a passion to live for that is bigger than yourself. Write it down. It will bring new meaning to your life. It will wake you from the slow death of only living for yourself.
- Set goals. Goals move us and goals shape us. Set goals that are directly in line with your defined purpose. By their very nature, they will introduce intentionality into your life.
- Stay focused. We live in a world of constant connectivity and distraction that is begging for our attention nearly every moment of the day. Learn to turn off the distraction and live your life instead. Turn off the tv and don’t read gossip magazines. Remove nonessential physical belongings that are robbing you of time and energy that could be better spent living intentionally.
- Learn from others. Successful people are curious people. They possess the humility to learn from others. Identify people accomplishing your purpose and goals. Then, study them and learn from them.
The worst thing you could ever waste is your life. Instead, commit yourself to live intentionally and on purpose.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
This is an excellent post and right in line with what I am trying to do now. Thank you!
Great post. The only thing that I would add is that we need to realize that we don’t need to figure out our entire life’s direction in the beginning. This was the mistake that I made when I was younger, and it held me back. I didn’t fully commit to my intentions because I was afraid of making the wrong choice.
The reality is that we can always change our path somewhere down the road. This takes a lot of the pressure off. We can decide on a particular intention and live by it, and then we can change if it isn’t quite right. Odds are that your intentions will evolve over time anyway. I know that my intentions have changed pretty dramatically over the last few years as I have clarified what I really want, and now I’m really going for it. It’s pretty exciting.
Good additions, Mark.
To “Decide to live your life” I would add, “for yourself”. So many people I know seem to live for others: dressing/acting/buying things in order to impress. Neither their physical appearance nor their possessions will truly impress someone, but only their actions and who they really are.
I totally agree and live by these sentiments. It takes years sometimes to build up this mindfulness to a degree where you can live it daily.
Changing thoughts is powerful I have learnt.
Thanks for sharing.
Amelia.x
Great suggestions!!
I would add to not be afraid of failure. Go for it and learn if you come up short. The attempt is a lesson waiting to happen!
Be well!
Jay
Another great post – thank you. My favorite piece of advice you’ve given here is the “Decide to live your life” paragraph – what a terrific reminder.
A quienes tengan dudas o lo califiquen de difícil, una experiencia por si les es de utilidad: mira en tu interior en busca de tu seguridad.
Y para quienes deseen leer un texto que se alinea con este post: la letra de la canción “Antes de que cuente diez” de Fito&Fittipaldis, pura poesía
Gracias a todos los que, a diario, regalais aire fresco a través de esta ventana tecnológica.
This is a concept I wish I would have grasped when I was much younger! I wonder how different life would have been. Not that it is bad now, but I see how intentional living instead of drifting would have helped avoid some junk :) All the more reason to teach this to our kids!
I so agree… I should have followed this a long time ago.
Awesome post. It’s never too late to improve and make changes (I’m 52), so I’m making the decisions needed to simplify and live with defined intentions.
awesome post Joshua, keep it up :)
It is interesting that I stumbled across this post just when I was about to draft my “3 months” plan!
Every 3 months I site down and intentionally decide exactly want to achieve in every sphere of my life in the next 3 months. I also look at what I have achieved in the past 3 months. Today is my D day. :) I will examine myself, define my purpose and even set goals. :)
Thank you for the synchronous post!
Living simply is definitely my goal if not my intention. It is amazing how easy it is to float through your life and wake up one day, wondering where it all went. I believe setting goals are key as well as checking in regularly to make sure you are staying on track or redefining your goals. Unfortunately goal setting has been a weekness of mine. I see where that has hindered me and I intend to rectify that beginning today. Thank you for this post.
Blessings,
Morgan
I wish I had known this earlier in my life and been surrounded by people aware of this. I have drifted because I worked myself into nervous exhaustion and compared myself thereafter as not being successful. Ruined health through self-doubt and not through following what I enjoy and value and being afraid to fail. I turn 50 soon and want to be in the presence of others who live intentionally to reinforce my commitment to this.
Lesley
to live with a purpose is what we should do. a lot of people are like zombies > they just go with the flow. it is really sad
I am so happy I found this new life.
I really like this article you have written. Sometimes I feel lost trying to figure out what exactly suits my family. Everything I want seems to be counter cultural, and it creates so much conflict. It’s the conflict I want to remove! It’s hard to move in these directions sometimes when even your family will resist, because they just don’t know any better. Busy and hurried is just what everything is and what they see everywhere. I just keep saying to myself God calls us to be different. To stand out. When I attempt to make the changes I know our family needs to make to achieve a greater peace…I’m always reminded of the call of Christians to be different, and different will often cause conflict for us. But I hope my decisions to reduce and live a certain way are pleasing to God in the end. But it’s hard!
I LOVE what you wrote (you encourage me so much with all your writings)…my favorite part was about turning off the TV (especially news AND commercials)!!!
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